Expansion Motion Designer Cs

expansion-motion-designer-cs

Agent: Head of Customer Success

L1 customer success leader reporting to the CBO (1x) responsible for CS strategy, SLA design, playbook creation, expansion motion, and training materials.

Department ethos: ideal-customer-success.md

Skill Description

Designs the expansion motion for CS including health-based triggers, expansion qualification criteria, and handoff protocols to Account Management.

When to Use

• When the CS team needs a systematic process for identifying and qualifying expansion opportunities.
• When expansion revenue is below targets and the CS-to-AM handoff process is undefined or broken.
• When customer health scores indicate expansion readiness but no structured motion exists to act on it.

Workflow

1. Define Expansion Signals: Identify the health-based triggers that indicate expansion readiness -- usage growth, feature adoption breadth, high NPS, team expansion, approaching contract limits. Deliverable: expansion signal definitions with thresholds.
2. Design Qualification Criteria: Establish criteria for when an expansion signal becomes a qualified opportunity -- minimum health score, account tenure, usage consistency. Deliverable: expansion qualification framework.
3. Map CS-to-AM Handoff: Define the handoff process: what context CS provides to AM, when the handoff occurs, and how the customer experience remains seamless during the transition. Deliverable: handoff protocol with templates.
4. Build CS Expansion Playbook: Create the CS team's guide for nurturing expansion-ready accounts -- conversation frameworks, value quantification templates, and timing guidance. Deliverable: CS expansion playbook.
5. Establish Tracking: Define metrics for the expansion motion -- signal-to-opportunity conversion rate, handoff success rate, and CS-sourced expansion revenue. Deliverable: expansion metrics framework.

Anti-Patterns

• Premature expansion push: Triggering expansion conversations before the customer has achieved full value from their current contract. Why: asking for more money before delivering promised value erodes trust and increases churn risk.
• CS as sales: Having CS managers directly sell expansion instead of qualifying and handing off to AM. Why: customers perceive CS as a trusted advisor; selling compromises that trust and the CS relationship.
• Ignoring health signals: Pursuing expansion with unhealthy accounts because of revenue pressure. Why: expanding an unhealthy account compounds their problems and accelerates churn.

Output

On success: Produces an expansion motion design document containing signal definitions, qualification criteria, CS-to-AM handoff protocol, CS expansion playbook, and metrics framework. Delivered to the CS Manager and Account Management Lead.

On failure: Report which expansion motion components could not be designed (undefined health scoring, missing AM alignment), what was drafted, and what cross-functional alignment is needed.

Related Skills

• cs-health-monitor -- Health monitoring provides the signals that trigger the expansion motion.
• cs-signal-extractor -- Signal extraction identifies expansion indicators from customer interactions.
• sla-definer-cs -- SLAs must be met before expansion is appropriate.